Recipe Scrapbook Albums

Think back to the last time your extended family got together. Perhaps it was a summer picnic, and everyone was raving over Aunt Jill’s potato salad – again. Maybe it was a Thanksgiving meal, and everyone begged Grandmother for her pumpkin pie recipe – again. Your family may have a special spaghetti sauce, or a sweet-and-sour sauce that everyone loves.

Why not collect those great family recipes into a recipe scrapbook album? Recipe scrapbook albums preserve the recipe for everyone, but they do more. Recipe scrapbook albums hand down many memories with the recipes.

Ingredients of Recipe Scrapbook Albums

Before you begin your recipe scrapbook album, think about the ingredients that should go into it.

* Recipes, of course
* Photos of the prepared recipe
* Photos of the person whose recipe it is
* Notes of memories attached to the recipe
* Paper reminiscent of tablecloths or kitchen wallpaper
* Kitchen utensil stickers
* Kitchen utensil charms
* Recipe “instruction” tags

Mixing Method for Recipe Scrapbook Albums

Your overall theme is already decided for you in a recipe scrapbook album. Your next step is to decide themes for each page – or for a section. You may want to group all of Aunt Ida’s recipes, all of Uncle David’s recipes, etc. Or you may choose to put all of the family pie recipes, cake recipes, meat recipes, etc. in sections of your recipe scrapbook album.

Assembling Ingredients of Recipe Scrapbook Albums

Once you have a section or page theme, you are ready to put your ingredients together. You probably know how to do the following.

1. Lay out a scrapbook paper to fit your page. A red and white checkered paper would be good for Italian recipes. Newsprint would fit well with an English Fish and Chips recipe.

2. Arrange photos, and the hand-written or typed recipe. Hand-written is a more personal touch, especially if the recipe’s owner writes it. Use frames, if you wish, or torn paper to offset your photos and/or the recipe.

3. Add a note or two of family memories associated with the recipe. Was this the cake that was served the evening Dad proposed to Mom? Did Johnny lose his tooth while eating Auntie’s special taffy?

Garnish the Page

When your page is arranged and each element glued in place, garnish it with appropriate stickers, tags, charms, and embellishments. If Grandma Betty loved lace, add a touch of it to the page holding her best recipe.